One of the ugliest cancers affecting mankind today is the
practice of racial prejudice. There is virtually no aspect of our
lives where racial prejudice does not find expression. Politics,
education, unions, corporate structures, the military, and the
medical establishment all struggle with hatred and exclusion
based upon skin color or other chosen racial criteria. Racial
hatred has also found expression in religion from time to time.
This has not only been seen in the actions of radical groups like
the Ku Klux Klan, but also in more subtle ways within the
fellowship of believers. This is especially difficult to
comprehend when one really looks at the teachings of Christ and
what the Bible actually teaches. It is much easier to find
justification for racial hatred and practices of exclusion and
segregation when one is basing their choices on systems opposed
to Christianity.

RACE AND ORIGINS

When one examines the various explanations of the origin of
man, one sees right from the start a contrast between the
biblical system and the assumptions of evolutionary systems. If
man is a product of evolution, then the extent to which man has
evolved can be used to elevate one person over another. In the
past, there have been those who argued that people of a different
color were inferior because they were less evolved. The basis of
saying they were less evolved was that their technology was not
as advanced, they understood less science, their medical
practices were less sophisticated, and their conduct or dress was
considered to be less advanced. It is not difficult to see how
such arguments could be made, especially when the instruments
used to measure how advanced someone was, was an instrument made
by those who claimed to be more highly evolved.

In the biblical account of man's origin, special emphasis is
given to the fact that man is uniquely created in the image of
God. This emphasizes man's spiritual nature as that which sets
him apart as special--not his physical makeup. If all humans
possess a soul of equal value, then obviously there is no basis
for suggesting that one group is superior to another. Physical
criteria are of no significance in the Christian system. Age,
sex, skin color, education, money, national origin, IQ, physical
condition, or even what a person has done are of no value. Peter
said it well in Acts 10:34 when he said "of a truth I
perceive that God is no respecter of persons."

Another support for a freedom from racism in the biblical
perspective is that all humans in the biblical account have a
common origin. The Bible tells us in Genesis 3:20 that "Eve
is the mother of all living." Mitochondreal DNA evidence in
recent years has supported that concept, but more important is
that our development from Eve to now puts us all on an equal
spiritual basis. We have the same origin, the same heritage, the
same value of ancestry, and a common spiritual history. The Bible
also pictures Christ as coming to save all men, not just those of
a special makeup or heritage.

RACE OR NATIONAL ELITISM

Many nations or religions have considered those who were not a
part of that religion to be inferior. Almost all man-made
religions have found ways of attaching identifying marks to those
who were a part of their group. Everything from a mark on the
forehead to hair style to clothing has been used to isolate one
part of the population from another. Even when others were
converted to a religion, there were frequently continued
prejudices of this kind. Even within the early church, there were
carry-over prejudices which caused some widows to be treated
better than others (Acts 6:1-7). These were formed before the
individuals involved became Christians, but prejudice dies hard.
In the Christian system, we see a freedom from prejudice from the
beginning. Jesus constantly broke down the walls of prejudice.
People were upset with Christ because He ate with tax collectors
and publicans, the social outcasts of His day and the lowest of
all people in the eyes of the Jewish society in which he lived.
When Christ met the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:7 the
Bible tells us that she was amazed that He would talk to her
since the prejudice between the Jews and the Samaritans was so
great that they would not even speak to each other. Jesus also
ignored national and regional divisions by saying, "Render
unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things
that are God's"(Matthew 22:21).

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPT OF THE
NATURE OF MAN

Over the years, there have been a variety of attempts to
suggest that there are natural driving forces which control the
fate of mankind individually and collectively. In one way or
another, these forces boil down to some version of natural
selection. The naked ape hypothesis and thought mechanism has
said that man is territorial so war is inevitable. Competition
for mates, power, and things is said to be a part of our
makeup--so there will always be the haves and the have nots. If
this is the nature of man, then the most fit will dominate the
earth, and the less fit will always be their servants. It is easy
to justify excluding those who obviously cannot compete with the
groups of which I am a member. To preserve my position, I have to
keep these inferiors under my thumb. Racism is easy to justify if
I buy into this kind of mindset. "It's a dog-eat-dog
world" gives me license to do whatever it takes to succeed.

The Christian system is the antithesis of this kind of thinking.
Jesus taught His followers to lift up the fallen and give to
those in need. In the judgment scenes, Jesus described to His
followers, those who were condemned were lost because they did
not help those in prison and those without food and drink
(Matthew 25:36ff). In the first century church, those who were
successful and would have been expected to perpetuate their
superior status by the logic of natural selection sold what they
had so that they could give to those who were without.

The Christian system teaches man that his responsibility is to
look after the welfare of others. From the Good Samaritan to the
instructions to Philemon about the love and care to be given to a
run-away slave, the Bible writers emphasized a value system based
on spiritual things. Having the world's possessions, being able
to control others, having greater position in society was never
held up as a priority.

I had made comments like these in a lectureship recently when a
skeptic responded with the comment that all of the Christians he
knew were among the biggest bigots on the planet. He then cited a
long series of events in which horrible things had been done to a
group of people in the name of Christianity by a group who felt
they were racially superior to the group they persecuted. There
can be no denying that this has happened, but those who did these
things did not do them with the authorization of the teachings of
Christ. Human reasoning was used to justify what was done, and
all that was done was in complete opposition to the teachings of
Christ.

In contrast, if people believe races are different because of the
extent to which they have evolved, and if they believe that
natural selection is the method of operation by which the fit
stay fit, their racial oppression is in conformity to that belief
system. When Mohammed commanded "When the sacred months are
over slay the idolaters (Christians and Jews) wherever you find
them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for
them" (Repentance 9:4-7 in the Koran, Penguin Classics,
1974), he stated a method to support his concept of superiority.
Jesus, on the other hand, said to love those who hate you, turn
the other cheek, and that as much as it depends upon you, to live
peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18).

Christians must take the lead in eradicating racial prejudice
because the Christian system is the only system that logically
opposes racism. The government cannot legislate racial equality
when it embraces a national policy based upon natural selection.
We may be able to be the "most fit" militarily for a
while but, if we are ever going to totally eliminate racism, it
will have to be done through the love and compassion of
Christians who let their light shine in a world buried in the
darkness of hate.